Question Buy Printer and scanner or AIO Printer

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elegendx

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Hello to everyone :)

I want to buy a printer to print text, photos.
Since I don't know much about printers, which manufacturer do you suggest I buy (HP, Canon, Lexmark, EPSON or Brother) and what should I look for in their specifications? In printing technology which is better? Also same with Scanner.
Also, I want to ask about the multi-machine. Is it worth it to be All in one or should I get them separately?
 
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Deleted member 2838871

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I have a HP AIO color laser that I use to print and scan documents. It cost me $550.

The print/scan quality is exceptional... but I've never tried printing photos with it in this digital world we live in.
 
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Deleted member 2838871

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I thought I already did that when I said I bought an HP that gives me exceptional print/scan quality.
 
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hotaru.hino

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I would argue unless you're after high quality photograph prints, which also requires the right paper to print on, get a laser printer. Why?
  • Ink cartridges basically start drying up the moment you open them. So if you don't print often, you won't get full use out of them.
  • Toner cartridges for laser printers tend print more pages overall.
  • This may only be the case for one company, but Brother provides a free "ship back" label for used toner cartridges when you buy a new one. You basically put the old one in the box, slap the label on it, and drop it off at the courier.
As far as brands go, I went with a Brother laser printer something like 6-7 years ago and I haven't looked back. Aside from a generic driver snafu which doesn't seem to be a problem anymore, the thing just works. I don't print often, maybe once every few months at that, but when I ask it to print something, it'll print it.

Granted, I wouldn't discount other brands like HP, but I think if you want something reliable, you need to get something suited for office use, not home use.

As far as the choice between an AIO or a separate scanner, unless you do a lot of document copying (i.e., print out what's scanned immediately), get a separate unit. It's a much smoother process since you can put the scanner at your desk and verify the images coming in on your computer.

For scanner brand, I went with an Epson one several years ago. Though I don't have experience with other brands so I don't know how they'd work. But Epson came recommended and I have no beef with either the hardware or the software.
 
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Wolfshadw

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Depending on how much you actually intend to use the device, you might, instead, look to a local shop to see if they offer printing services.

I've owned inkjet printers (Brother/Canon/Epson) for almost as long as I've owned computers. The last one I purchased was used less than five times before the ink cartridges dried up. It's a lot cheaper for me to just head to a local shop to do what little printing I need to do.

As for scanning, I do that more frequently than printing.

If you're not doing a lot of printing, then I'd probably do a price comparison between scanners only and All-In-One printers. If it's about the same, just get an All-In-One. If a scanner-only is significantly cheaper, then see if you can find a local shop that offers printer services and just get a scanner.

Of course the above argument is moot if you intend to do a LOT of printing!

-Wolf sends
 
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elegendx

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Okay.
I look a model from HP and I see about specs like as:
Print speed black (ISO, A4) Up to 27 ppm
Print Speed Color (ISO) Up to 27 ppm
Print quality black (best) 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi
Print quality color (best) 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi
Can you explain?
 
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USAFRet

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bniknafs9 said:
it's not hard .
as long as you don't stick to an expensive brand like HP ,
Samsung 's got basic black and white Laser printers for a budget.
Click to expand...
well, yes.

'Hard', as in you really have to look.
And if you're also looking for bottom of the barrel.

I have a Brother L3770CDW.

(from BestBuy(US) )
A brother, printer only....$160
All In One....$199

The majority of printers now include the scanner part.
 
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bniknafs9

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since the OP did his time in united states airforce ..
i actually used to print tons of Air force planes of different sorts when i was a kid .
they were all over my room next to my world maps and pictures of Nsync members .
B-2's B-1's F-117 and of course B-52's and B-

sin't Brother a European brand ?
i honestly wouldn't know .
i 'm not samsung fanboy but i would buy samsung .
cheers
 
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hotaru.hino

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elegendx said:
Okay.
I look a model from HP and I see about specs like as:
Print speed black (ISO, A4) Up to 27 ppm
Print Speed Color (ISO) Up to 27 ppm
Print quality black (best) 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi
Print quality color (best) 600 x 600 dpi, Up to 38,400 x 600 enhanced dpi
Can you explain?
Click to expand...
The first two specs are saying how fast it can print an A4 sized paper, which is roughly equivalent to 8.5x11. Obviously different paper sizes are going to affect how fast the printer can print. I'm also assuming it's probably printing a full page of text of some standard format.

For quality, the higher DPI (dots per inch) generally means a better overall quality of the image, but it depends on the kind of image you're sending to the printer and what size of print you're printing it out on.
 
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elegendx

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hotaru.hino said:
The first two specs are saying how fast it can print an A4 sized paper, which is roughly equivalent to 8.5x11. Obviously different paper sizes are going to affect how fast the printer can print. I'm also assuming it's probably printing a full page of text of some standard format.

For quality, the higher DPI (dots per inch) generally means a better overall quality of the image, but it depends on the kind of image you're sending to the printer and what size of print you're printing it out on.
Click to expand...
Okay. If the value ppm is bigger, is it better? Also, the model HP that I mentioned, is 600 dpi?
 
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hotaru.hino

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elegendx

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elegendx said:
Okay. But which manufacturer do you suggest I buy (HP, Canon, Lexmark, EPSON or Xerox)?
Click to expand...
None as far as I know they are all a pain at least a couple of times a year when something is not running quite right and you try to fix it

And few don't want access to the internet ... there is no need for that... nor do I want it to be able to use wi-fi... what ever for
And none as far as I know are any good with compatible ink cartridges supplied by someone other than the manufacturer
Most if not all have far too many superfluous features.

Print what I have on my screen, print it now and don't mess me about is all I want
 
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